At Invesco, businesses say vote no

A group of business leaders gathered today on the 30-yard line at Invesco Field at Mile High to (insert sports metaphor here) denounce the “Ugly 3″ ballot initiatives.

How afraid are businesses that one or all of the measures might pass?

“I’ve been doing this business for 35 years, and I have never been as frightened with any measure on the ballot as I have been with these three,” said Tom Clark[1], executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.

Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101[2] would cut state and local taxes by billions of dollars and prohibit any borrowing by the state while placing strict new limits on local borrowing.

Coloradans for Responsible Reform[3], which is opposing Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101, picked the football stadium for a press conference so they could point to the 76,125 empty seats. That number is just a few thousand more than the 73,000 jobs that would be lost if the three measures pass, according to a study done by the opponents.

“This is not a social experiment that we’re talking about. This is a prescription for economic depression in Colorado,” Clark said.

Even though opponents of the ballot measures have raised more than $5 million already, they’re not taking anything for granted – especially in a year like this when voters appear to be in a blind rage at times.

“I don’t think any of us believes we’re ahead,” Clark said. “I think everyone of us are running like we’re 20 points behind.”

In addition to Clark, about 20 other business leaders showed for the the press conference, including Chris Kraft, owner of Quail Dairy in Fort Morgan; John Beeble, President/CEO of Saunders Construction; and Richard Lewis, President/CEO of RTL Networks.